3rd Islamic Governance Symposium at University Brunei Darussalam

THE Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), Universiti Brunei Da-russalam (UBD) held its Third Annual Symposium on Islamic governance at the Senate Room, Chancellor Hall, UBD yesterday.

The event followed a series of symposia held over the past two years that focused specifically on the emerging discipline and practice of Islamic governance and its relationships with policy, government, and society.

With the theme ‘Integrating Organisational Functions within an Islamic System of Governance’, the one-day symposium included discussions on how organisations, consisting of individuals, can function as a cohesive collective to create an environment that is conducive for the worship of Allah the Almighty.

The symposium also highlighted four principal components of Islamic governance: the theological, the juristic, its values and the cultural context, where it is against these backgrounds that different possible perspectives, issues and challenges of engendering integration within Islamic governance can be examined.

The theme was a continuation of the discussions held during the previous two symposia. The first symposium introduced the concept of Islamic governance and its various manifestations and explored some of the various functions and activities that fall within the purview of Islamic governance. In the second symposium, the papers presented focused on identifying the roles and protecting rights under Islamic governance.The objective of the third symposium was to deepen the understanding of the principles of Islamic governance and its potential for providing a cohesive and systematic approach for the implementation of Malay Islamic Monarchy (MIB) as well as its application in public policy.

UBD, through IPS, is currently the only institution of higher learning in the world that offers courses as well as a Master and PhD programmes in Islamic governance. In its Master of Public Policy and Management (MPPM) programme, IPS has formed partnerships with some of the top public policy schools in the USA including Georgetown University, University of Maryland, Duke University, and University of California, Berkeley.

DESPITE first making its appearance in the Sultanate during the 1940s, Kuih Mor continues to be a household favourite today as a tea time snack or festive treat particularly during Hari Raya Aidil Fitri.

Siti Norhafizah Hj Bagol, a final year student at Universiti Brunei Darussalam who researched on Kuih Mor as part of her Brunei Traditional Industry module, said the three-ingredient sweet treat may have existed in Brunei as early as the 1940s when padi was known to have been grown to make different food items.

Over time, the cookie has also become a popular door-gift choice often handed out at Malay weddings or gatherings, said Siti Norhafizah.

Made with flour, oil and granulated sugar which have been ground into a powder, the bite-sized biscuits have a crumbly texture and are coated with powdered sugar.

The age-old technique of making Kuih Mor by hand has however changed over the course of time, with many now opt…